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SPEECH 



HON.A¥ILLIAM SAWYER, OF UIIl- 

In the Hbuse of Representatives, June 2, 184S, on the Civil and Diploimtlr ,h.!.,..n 

Hon Bill. 



Mr. S.VWYEll said: A diingcrous system of 
Icgislntioii has been crceiiing into tliis liouse of 
late, a system wliich is at open war with all ftiir 
and Icj^itimate legishition, Id wl>icii he interposed 
liis remonstrance. In the bill passed on yesterday, 
(the annual navy appropriation bill,) there were 
no less tiian from three to live appropriations made, 
not legitimately or properly belonging to that par- 
ticular branch of the public service; and it was on 
this account alone that he felt himself compelled to 
vote against ihe whole bill. 

One of the items to which I now allude, appro- 
priated the sum of §50,000 for improving one of 
the iiilets of Boston narbor, and to prevent* cer- 
tain island (individual property) from bciTig washed 
asvay. Another item was for paying Prot'essor 
Esj>y (denominated " the Storm King") for taking 
certain mineorological'observalions; or, in other 
words, as a reward for "regulating slorms."" Add 
to this the heavy expenditure provided for the long 
list of drones now hanging, with a perfect death- 
gripe, upon the public treasury, and who, fearing 
that they might be driven from their hold without 
some such scheme for securing it, have been watch- 
ing, with eager eyes, every stage of its progress 
here. These star-gazing astronomers, it seems, 
have dropped upon a scheme for taking the par- 
allax of the sun; one standing at the equator and 
the other at the north pole, to take the altitude and 
bearing of that great luminary. An appropriation 
has been inserted for this |Hupose, sir. 

But to other items. I find, sir, a pretty heavy 
sum ('ijoOjOOO) appropriated for removing obstruc- j 
tions t'roin the Savannah river. Also, the snug little 
sum of •|;3G,000 for paving and grading the streets of | 
Washington. And whysuchexpendiiures,sir? My j 
constituents, like the constituents of all my breth- 
ren on this floor, have to make, grade, and pave I 
their own streets, and build ihcir own bridges. It j 
is no part of my errand here to vote away their ^ 
money for the benefit of the rich nabobs of this , 
city, wallowing in their splendor. 

Gtrcal care has been taken, it seems, in perfect- ; 
ing these items — a care very common to members [ 
from certain sections of this Union. It is man- ! 
aged so as to avoid the great and growing West, j 
ISot a cent is appropriated for the benefit of that , 
region. Improvements for all that country are in- j 
corporated in a general bill for river and harbor | 
purposes. But even in this operation, in fixing j 
upon the proper items, enough of^ the most glaringly | 
obnoxious and ridiculous — such as difgmg out a i 
harbor where the God of Nature never made one, ! 
or creating a navigable river out of some miserable 
goose run — arousully lugged in, to secure a vtro. , 
And this result is the very one they seek to accom- | 
plish, as affording them a little political capital for | 
charging official misconduct upon a Democratic j 
President, and delinquency upon the Democratic j 
party. And hero, sir, I take occasion to warn my 
friends of this House upon the injustice and danger 

Primed at lUe Congressional Globe Office. 



of nil such Icgiiilntjon. 1. - 

forced u]>on «•*, ihuii hun. 

once put them down, nnd i 

a proper account to our coiiHiiiut nij. 

Here, Htr, I dismian nil norai ilrtn*, for n >«>f 
cxaminatioiiof topics It. ' " 

in tluir ch'iractcr. I i 
who have been most \\ .1 
for one of the moat commendable and not, 
ever honored n imlrioiic nnd liiKhniind- ' 
It is with no feeling of i)le!i<iurr, I do <»■ 
llemen here, that I tou" n ngain upon tli.f ■ 
feel a kind of convulsive Hhuddcr pnji.i ■ 
I approach it. It i.s n matter, «ir, in . 
own neighbors nnd friends — thove who 
stood battling by my side in the high ; 
flicts of the day — arc directly and ii;' 
involved. Faithless should I prove aa t 
diate representative here, nnd utterly u 
their approving smile.s, were I not i., 
their defence. At ilin last scsainn, I 
to state the facia in referenrofo ih»- > 
to the settlement of a ii 
Some of the leading p w 

yet be in the memory li .:. . ..,. . 

riie people of Mercer county felt then, 
posed upon, and resisted the degrading < 
ment. 

It would be recollected, and Mr. S. thought 

apology for the course he :•: ■ • ;i 

amply sutHcicnt, that in th> 
sion his constituents were ir- 
colleagues [Mr. Giddi.vgs] and ilic gcnilcinun fi 
Virginia, [Mr. Batlt.] Kow, he veniiirrd lo 
there was not a member in '' ' \ . ' 

sell', that would have sufT i 
made, and especially by hi^ _ ., , 

once refuting the charges. He had »\. 
would have ample opj>ortunity, aomr tf , 
during the present session of Con.- 
them, and he was not mistaken, ' 
portunity ha<l come. The gcntlc.i. .,. 
ginia, in the first place, ha I made the <• 
he tor>k leave here to say that he c.X' . 
because it was not to be supposcil that he m uji v 
acquainted with all lite facts of the case; but 

colleague, he tho' -'•. ■■, ' '' '• 

been charged by ' 

concurred in by li: 

had been engaged in nwbltinz; ilint ihey had niulj< 

some negroes sent to liis district, there lo be d( . 

iciled. 

Mr. BAYLY explained thai the point of hii 
m irks was against those who •v ,. !'■ .1 (r, ,• n,- -r 
from their own community 
senialives here who were cii 
slaves from their masters. N •. , lii' 
from Ohio nnd his constituents did not «•'. 

cjite5(>ry, fttr thry '"• ! ■ • '• '■ . 

here, and thcrcfi- iy 

that gentleman, n _ dt 



Mr. SAWYER replied that he had said in the 
outset that he did not censure or blame the gentle- 
man from Virginia, because he presumed he did 
not understand the subject as well as liis colleague. 
The gentleman from Virginia had said: 

" 'J'lif Suite of tHiio, that liaO more abolition members ^n 
tliis floor lliaii any otliiT, had driv en oil' slaves who were 
emancipaieU in Virginia, and scut to Ohio, lltese blacks 
bought Iniid and settled down in the free State of Ohio, and 
the people, al\ir getting their money, mobbed Uiciu, and coiu- 
pelled Chcni to abandon their lands." 

The genileinan, it would be recollected, was here 
speaking of the Randolph negroes. Now, he sup- 

Eosed the gentleniiui thouglit tiint was the fact, 
ecause the charge had been made in all the aboli- 
tion papers in Ohio. Whatever his people had 
done he cndoised. This subject was up at the last 
session of Congress, and lie liad then laken occa- 
sion to explaiii how it was and why it was. Many 
gentlemen who were then members of the House 
might remember what he had then stiid; but there 
were others here now who were not then, and he 
desired to state tlic case, and to place himself and 
his constituents right. The abolition papers of 
the State of Ohio had charged them with being a 
set of mobocrats; they had denied it, and set forth 
in their papers tlie precise ground on which they 
stood; but those papers had never printed their de- 
fence — they had not let the antidote go out with the 
bane — they had never retracted the slander. Now, 
as the Representative of tliat constituency, and as 
one of the representatives of the Democracy of 
Ohio, he stood here in his place, and said that Ohio 
■would never submit to the slave States .sending 
their emancipated blacks within her borders or 
colonics. He again said, if the test must come, 
Hjji'l ihey must resort to force to ellect their object, 
the banks of the Ohio (a mile wide) would be lined 
with men wiih muskets on their shoulders to keep 
oft" the emancipated slaves which the slave States 
might attempt to throw in among them. The 
Democrats of Ohio, at least of his district, and he 
with ihern, would stand up in their own defence. 

But his colleague's reply to the gentleman from 
Virginia showed that he fully agreed with the gen- 
tleman that it was a mob. He was reported in the 
Intelligencer as follows: 

" Mr. GiDDixGs wished to say one word on that point; and 
(Mr. B. yielding Uie tloor) observed tliat Uie act ol a mob in 
the district reprecented by his colleague [Mr. SawverJ 
sliould not be applied to Oliio in Us capaeiiy as a State, or 
to its citizens generally. 'I'he actol'that mob — his colleague 
•aid he took the responsibility of it; he (Mr. G.) was aware 
of that: and lie liad only risen lor tJie purpose of throwing 
it e/itir«ly from the State as a State, and from the people as 
a people. It was a mob ; and when the gentleman from 
Virginia called it a mi>b, Ids own heart responded to the 
truth which he a.sserted. It was a mob; one with which the 
peofile of that State had no sympathy whatever; one on 
which the people of that State looked with deep, unutterable 
abhorrence ; one on which they had placed their seal ol con- 
dcmnntion, as he believed ; and wlio^e procedure they held 
in detestiilion, and in violation of all the principles of liii- 
manily and ol Uic laws of the land, lie knew his colleague 
[Mr. SawyueJ thought dillcrcntly. He (Mr. G.) had only 
expressed what the people generally felt in his part of tlic 
t^tate, and what he thought the people o( the whole State 
generally felt and had expressed. He responded to the sen- 
limenl of the gentlt.inan fiom Virginia, tiiat it was the act 
of a mob — inhuman and detestable." 

Now, he desired to say that his constituents were 
a law-abiding people, and that it wa.s the men who 
had charge of theae negroes, and those who advised 
and counselled them (who wereThos. Corwiii and 
another distinguished lawyer from Dayton, Ohio, 
Mr. Odlin) to move the negroes into his district, 
who had violated the law. He now proposed to 
read a statute of Oliio under which they had Scted, 
and with the letter of which they had complied, and 
then he would ask gentlemen to decide whether 



he and his constituents were the mobocrats, or the 
men were who took the part of these negroes 
against their own citizens. This law was passed in 
lb07, and still remained on their statute-book; they 
acted not in violation of law, but in accordance with 
it. [He caused to be read a section of the law of 
Ohio, which requires that when any black or mu- 
latto person comes into that State, he shall give 
bond and security for good behavior, and in case 
he refuse, that it shall be the duty of the overseer 
of the township to remove such person without 
such county.] 

Now, in accordance with law, they took with 
them the trustees of the township, and marched 
where these negroes were to land; they took the 
statute in their hands and asked the negroes to 
comply with the letter of that law, and then they 
could interpose no legal objection to tlieir landing. 
The negroes, and those who had charge of them, 
utterly refused to enter into security; they then 
told them to take the back track, and for fear they 
would not do it — for fear thoy would go oil", and, 
having quieted suspicion, land at stniie other place, 
their men, to the number of some four or five hun- 
dred, inarched along with them and saw them safe 
out of the county with three good hearty cheers^ 
and t^ey had never ventured to come into the 
county again, and so long as his constituents and 
himself live.d in it they never should. He gava 
gentlemen timely notice. They were not mobo- 
crats; they valued the law and obeyed it, butthoss 
men who attempted to force those negroes upon 
them, in violation of the laws of his State, were 
mobocrats. 

Suppose they had tamely submitted to it then: 
what next.' What did these gentlemen desire free 
negroes to come into Ohio for.' The gentleman 
from Virginia had told them the other day — and he 
proclaimed now, that all the world might hear it — 
that most of the free negroes in the State of Ohio 
were the most despicable of all creatures. Their sit- 
uation there waslenfold worse than that of the slaves 
in the slave States; yes, the very worst slaves in the 
United States were not in so degraded a condition 
as were the free negroes in the State of Ohio; and 
they fetched them there for what purpose.' I'hcre 
was an ulterior olject. Did the abolitionists want 
to make them citizens? They said not; they pro- 
fessed they did not desire to make them citizens, 
to let them vote and enjoy all the privileges the 
whites enjoyed; but he should undertake to show 
that that was what they were after. Wliy did 
they want them there .' To make them their equals 
in society.' That they could 'never do. And he 
remarked, that abolition now was not what aboli- 
tion was when it was first started, when, some ten 
or fifteen years ago, it took its rise in Boston and 
New York. It was not then called abolition; it 
was then called amalgamation. At that time, that 
doctrine was promulgated; and, if accounts wer« 
true, gentlemen and ladies let themselves down to 
the common level of the negro, and said all distinc- 
tions ought to be done away with; and it was not 
uncommon to see a negro woman on the arm of a 
white man, marching to church and sitting in the 
same pew, in Boston and New York. That waa 
the fact when the thing first started; but that stat« 
of things was so revolting to the sense of the com- 
munity, that they were soon compelled to abandon 
it. What was the course taken now.' Why, the 
whole sympathies of some gentlemen run out in 
favor of a cci tain class. Whatclass.' When they 
had come into Ohio, and asked that these degraded 
negroes should become the equals of the white 
citizen there, it was too revolting in every respect. 



Their citizens would not submit to it, and they 
had licen oblifjed to clonk ihtir real do.si-jns under 
spL'cioua pretencea. He lu\d some cvidL-nce on ihi.s 
subject. Suppose tluU lliey, and every free Stuie, 
■hoiild sit quietly down, and let tlic slave Sinles 
■end their surplus negroes to them; what would be 
the clFect of it? He liad here a resolution of Mr. 
John P. Hale, the prince of the Abolition |iarly, 
od"ered in the Senate the present session: 

"Ri-i ihr/t, Tli;it llio (^)riiiiiiil<"0 on ilic Jmlici.nry lie in- 
•triiotuil to iii()uire wlirit li'!»i.<liitioii, if iiiiy, hi- ni'Ci'.ssiiry to 
aecur« to tlit- colored citi/.iMiiiortliu iioii slavulioliliiiK Stiitcit 
Ibe privili-;>>s nnil jiaiiiutiitiosi;ii;iriiiiliiMl livlliu CoiiHiitiition 
of the Uiiiteil States to <.'itizeiiH of eiicli of the States." 

Wiiat did that mean.' The committee were to 
inq'iire into the e.>:pediency of letting negroes in 
the free States have " the privileges and immuni- 
ties guarantied by the Constitution of the United 
States to the citizens of each of the Stales." That 
was the privilege of coining up to the poll.'3 and 
voting, the enjoyment of tree sch<iols, the privi- 
lege of testifying in courts of justice; in short, to 
let them exercise every right and privilege the 
white man did. 

But he had got something further; and he would 
call th3 attention of the gentleman from New York 
[Mr. Djea] to the subject, and ask him what he 
meant by introducing resolutions of this kind into 
the House a few days ago.' 

Mr. 1),;k.i a^lc^il Inave to s il) nit the following resuliilion ; 
wriiicli wa'J ol>jfCt'-il to, and not reei'iveil : 

Resjlreii, Tnat the Coinmittee on Public LanJ^ he in- 
straet ■< to ini)iiire into the expodieiicy of settin'! apart a por- 
tion of the public lands for tlie exclusive use and po-sessiou 
of tVei! black pardons, on the folio kvin;;t>'rmj and conditions: 

1. T.iat cv.'ry free blifk mile person ab )v.! Of. a^o of 
twenty-one years, removing to and makini; his residence in 

sucii l;'frit')ry,;shall be entitled to occupy and cultivate 

acres of the public lands situated therein ; and after so occu- 

pyiu,':in'i i.upnvin^ the same for years, shall be further 

ciititli.' I to re(!eivo a grant of the same, free of all cost or 
cliar_'c whatsoever. 

2. Tuat no sale of land within such teriitory be made by 
th; G ivcrn.uant, or be per.nitt>.-d to be made by individuals, 
t) white persons. 

3. That portions of said lands be set apart for the pur- 
{vnes of education. 

4. That such territory be separately organized arfd gov- 
orueJ under the authority of Ci).'rj;ress. 

5. T.ial Winn the iiiliabitanl-; of said territory shall amount 

to thousands, they be invested with su^'h p>wers of 

self-government as are usually granted to the Territories of 
Itie United Slates. 

Now, there was a proposition to establish a 
State of negroes within the confines of these 
United States, and not only to give them the 
same privileges and immunities of the white citi- 
zen, but to give tiiem, free of charge, the public 
lands; while the Journals of the last Congress 
will show, that every Whig of this House, and 
every Barnburner, and fresh negro-loving Repre- 
sentitive from the great St\te of New York, had 
refused to give to poor white men th it very priv- 
ilege, and hid refused to rcduie and grarluate the 
prices of the imblic lands to actual settlers within 
the Slates. (Jut here they were willing to set ofT 
a portion of this country to the free negro, and 
then guaranty to him all the rights guarantied to 
the white mm; that was, to allow him to go to the 
polls, and have a place on this floor as a Represent- 
ative fVom the negro colony or .Stale. That State 
ought to lie called after the gentleman from New 
York — DuERK. . 

Mr. DUIiR asked if the gentleman dcjired him 
to answer him.' 

Mr. SAWYER declined to yieM the floor. 

Mr. DUER, said the gentleman had stated he 
wished to know whit he (.Mr. D.) meant. He 
had grossly misrepresented him. 

Mr. SAWYEil said he might have raisrepre- j 
seated him; he had taken these resolutions, how- 



1. 
"ins 



In: I 



ever, out of the National lute.Wi 
organ in thin city, and if »4iere w 
ation, he was not rcxp >nsildi>. I 
he had read it word for w • 
I Now, thi!< w.i« what tK 
would not be long nfler ihi-.i. . 
got the negroes on citiren« in'. 
.States before they would throw, 
and ask that they Hhould riijny fr. 
the white man. He n»ked hii 
free laboring while men nt home, wurui.r in 
would back Huch doclrinen n* lUrnc' 

[Jut, on the other hand, he «nid tohii i!!..'. . 
ing friends, while he Mhould ao auon^- 
their sending their nurpluM blark poj. 
the free States, he was eipially firm in 
their rights. And he .said, ile'livcr up ; 
heads to us— those men who hid the ■.. 
faces in their mouth cvr^ry day, and wli 
now did not corn^sponij with thrir , 
heretofi)re — he a.skcd hiii southern frictiJs i • i 
liver them up to iheir lender merriei— the tru 
mercies of Demotrata from the We«i r- ' v -■ 
west, and they would take care of i 
their southern friend.i also. No H;ter 
no pretext, however ingenious, could i 
for one moment to run otF after iho 
beautiful things th.it their abo!iiii)n frim i . n 1 1 
up as gods to bow down and worship. Th •• 
would keep their eyes steadily on the landinir 
of the Constitution, which guarantied to the Sou 
as well as to the West every species of proper ^ 
which tlieir laws niti le prooerty. They shoud 
not cofiie upon the soil of Ohi > or the free Stat ■■ i 
and interfere with their risrhls, and, so far as th' .' 
of Ohio and of the North had the power, th' y 
would preserve the rights of the South to the »«■ / 
letter of the law and the Constitution. Now, ih'-y 
had been charged, some of them, when they h 1 
voted with the South on certain question -, ■•■ ■' ' 
ing doii^h-facts. He cared very little 
epithet; and the gentleman who was f ■ 
using that epithet he had heard the other cvcnin 
in which he had exhibited not only ihedou»h-f« 
but the don^h-htad. What was the meaning i" 
that tertn.' .A. dough-face, as he understood ', 
meant a head of JoiigA, upon which you might e» 
hibit any /(f? you pleased. There was a crrtji 
system which he believed had now J>een redu--' 
to a science — the science of animal magnetism; ■( 
they ap[)lied that prin'iiple, there were ceria . 
dough-heads which, if you touched f>" ■ --«■••' ■• 
bump in tin; cr.uiium, you operated oi 
pathies; sympathy WIS then with them " 
ing principle; and all their benevolence ran out ■ 
the negro; they had no sym!>aihv with the rest ■ 
the world, bul they pr oclaime i tScmselres to th 
world as the only puje philanthropists. Thfi 
tou'-.h th'se dough-heads upon another point, an I 
they had quite an ither ide\: at one moment thev 
would go against any .slaveh >\\'r ii th» w-»r!«l, Hut 
the very next breath — when 
the cranio 11 — they hurriie I 
prince of slaveholders in lb' i . 
was pr.icticc and orofession; and 
the test, the profession wis not .. 
the practice gave the lie to the profcii; on. 

Now, these abolition gentlemen, who thou^hl • » 

mueh an 1 cire I s> mu'-h aS>ut •' '■ " "••" 

tution — who made abilition d' 

their polar star, and mide cveryt . 

it — these wre the very gentlemen, l>.. 

in the Old World, (T'->r ho had. n^f Ion ■ 

an account of an ' ' 

London, where • 

were lauded lb ll.. — , , 



pairiotism and pliilunlhropy of the country, and tlie 
slaveholding Stales were ncld up to derision,) who 
denounced the Soiiili, and held tluniselvcs up as 
the peculiar and exclusive iihilanthropists. And 
yet what had they done for tlie slave ? The inhab- 
itants of the slaveliolding Stales themselves were 
the true friends of the slave — the real abolitionists — 
abolitionists not in word, but in deed. If the doc- 
trine of real abolition deserved credit, their actions 
were entitled to credit. Why, little Maryland, 
since the formation of this Government, had man- 
umitted more slaves than ail the free States of this 
Union put together, with tlie abolitionists of the 
modern day standing at their backs. Yes, tlie 
Hon. Louis McLane, of Maryland, wlio, when our 
minister in London, was referred to by these abo- 
litionists in their meetings as being a slaveholder 
and our representative at that court — that same 
Mr. McLane (the father of the gcnllmian from 
Maryland on this floor) had manumitted all his 
slaves. There was the true, philanthro|iic, chris- 
tian spirit; but that these conscientious abolition- 
ists refused to tell. The States of Virginia, Ma- 
ryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia, had, of their own free will, itianumiltcd 
more slaves a thousand-fold than all the free-State 
philanthrojiists of this country had done since tlie 
formation of this Government. Maryland herself 
had manumitted slaves to the value of sixty mil- 
lions of dollars. 

And let him mention another thing — that while 
England, with her friends here, was sympathizing 
■with the abolitionists, and condemning the slave 
States in all possible shapes and forms for their 
doctrines on the subject of slavery, those States 
owed this institution to Great IJritain herself. 
When we were yet colonics, England, with her 
licensed robbers, robbed the coast of Africa, and 
forced, against the colonies' consent, thousands and 
tens of thousands of slaves upon them. One State 
of the Union, Massachusetts, was entitled to the 
credit of having, one hundred and fifty years ago, 
when acolony of Great Britain, when Great Britain 
had landed her slaves there against their consent, 
purchased them up with their own money, of 
naving hired a ship and sent them back to Africa, 
and landed them at their former homes. And if 
we looked to the original draft of the Declaration 
of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, we found 
that one of the reasons assigned by Thomas Jef- 
ferson for declaring war against Great Britain was, 
that she had persisted in forcing slaves upon us 
contrary to our will; and one-half of the arguments 
deduced from Mr. Jefferson and other fathers of 
the Republic against slavery, would be found to be 
argument-s, not against the institution of slavery in 
the slave States, but against the slave trade, as car- 
ried on by Great Britain to these colonies. In the 
slave States was the very first attempt made to 
abolish the foreign slave trade. All tho.se States 
united on that principle, and the movement took 
its start from the United State.", and not from tho.se 
abolitionists across the water, who were now inter- 
meddling with that with which they had no busi- 
ness; and their intermeddling was enough to set 
every American on his guard. South Carolina 
Rnd Georgia were the last to come into this agree- 
ment; but I hey did come in finally, and it was agreed 
to abolish the slave trade in a ceruiin year. 

iVow,he told gentlemen, whose sympathies were 
BO very warm for the slave, that the slaveholders 
of the slave Stales had manumitted iwore slaves — 
a thousand to one — than all thephilanlhropi.sts from 
the free States wlio were now crying outso loudly 
on ihiB Hubjccl. All that these liad contributed 
were windy epceches against this institution ; while 



those true philanthropists, the slaveholders of the 
South, with that commendable benevolence so hon- 
orable to their character, had put their hands into 
their pockets, and taken that which was property, 
recognized by the laws as such, and given it up, 
to tlie amount, of millions on millions; yet now 
these blubbering abolitionists came forward with 
their loud boastsof philanthropy, while he ventured 
to say they could not show the record where they 
had given one single dollar for aiding the emanci- 
pation of the slave. It was very easy for some of 
the States to abolish slavery; it was very easy for 
them to pass a law to compel the slaveholders to 
give up their property; the slaveholders were few 
in number, and it took no money from the pockets 
of the large part of their citizens; and so it waa 
easy now for the abolitionists to cry out. Abolish 
slavery, when it would not touch their pocket. 

If he had it in liis power, there should be no 
slavery under the canopy of heaven. He regretted 
its existence; but if the question were put to him 
whether slavery should continue in the slave States, 
or the negroes should be removed to Ohio, lie would 
not take half a moment to answer. He preferred 
that they should remain in the slave Slates. He 
would say to the gentlemen of the slave States, that 
he would do all he could to prevent them sending 
their negroes into Ohio, and at the same time he 
would do all he could to stand up for the rights of 
those gentlemen at home. And he would soy to 
those who assumed to be philanthropists, that the 
best way to accomplish the object which they pro- 
fessed to have in view was to compel the slave- 
holders to keep their slaves at home; or if they 
wished to manumit their slaves, let tlieni send them 
to Liberia, though he confessed he had not much 
confidence in that system. However, it was the 
best plan he had any knowledge of. If they were 
really the friends of emancipation, as they professed 
to be, he would tell gentlemen that they were taking 
the very worst course to accomplish their object; 
on the contrary, they riveted firmer and firmer the 
shackles of the slaves. How many slaves had 
they ever manumitted by traducing the South? 
Comparatively none. 

Suppose our southern friends should resolutely 
stand u[) and deny us in the West the right of own- 
ing, controlling, or in any way using our own 
household goods; should forbid us erecting a tene- 
ment, a mill, or even a distillery; alleging, if you 
please, as to the latter, that the practice of making 
distilled spirits had an evil tendency, seriously 
aflccting the morals of the country, and sending 
thousands to perdition; and suppose, luider the 
excitement of imaginary danger, they should here 
solemnly call on Congress to prohibit such a free 
use of our own property and means: if (said Mr. 
S.) I mistake not the spirit and resolution of the 
gallant West, they would hurl defiance in the very 
teeth of their presumptuous assailants, and tell 
them that every State has its laws, and every citi- 
zen his rights. And I take upon me to tell all these 
professed negro sympathizers and mock philan- 
thropists, that their imprudent and reckless course 
towards the South has done more to fasten slavery 
upon this country, and to extend and projiagate it 
in the land, than all that the combined ]>ower of 
the slaveholders could ever efl'ect, were they to 
marshal all their forces in the eflbrt. 

For his part, he (Air. S.) would say, let the 
southern gentlemen keep their slaves within their 
own borders; and if they could not use them, they 
would discover the unprofitableness of slavery, 
but they never would submit to improper inter- 
ference from other States in such matters. 

It had been said in a celebrated case in England, 



tried in one of its courts, in relation to n slave who 
had procured his freedom iIutc, that " the moment 
a slave touches the soil of England, his slun-kles 
fall." That expression had been frcnueiiily riuutcd 
in (luMic mceliiijcs in this country, hut those who 
used those words appeared not to he conscious, 
that at the very moment when such a dec-laration 
Was made before one of the Knjjiish tribunals, 
EuLcland whs en;j;a;;ed with all her power in scnd- 
inj; slaves to her colonies in this country. 

Hut I must pass on, (continued Mr. S.,) an my 
time is short. The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. 
Bayi.y] charged, theolhcrday, that inOliio tiny had 
taken money for land st)lil to emancipated slaves, 
and then sent them away out of the State. Perhaps 
in noticin^j this, I am runnini; into a diijrcssion; but 
I hojie I will be excused, as I au\ not very method- 
ical in the arrangement of my thoughts. Now, 
since that statement was made, I have procured 
the signature of every citizen within llie borders of 
the county where this was said to have occurred, 
and I find that but two small tracts of land have 
bcM sold to them by citizens of that county. Those 
who did sell the land were citizens of Connecticut, 
of Hoslon, Massachusetts, and other parts of Ohio, 
and not those who resided in the county where it 
actually took place; so that they .stood relieved from 
such an accusation. In fact they were not aware 
Uiat such purchases had been made for some lime. 

The other day, the gentleman from Massachu- 
setts [Mr. HuDsov] was making a speech, and in 
the course of it 1 interrogated him. I do not see 
that gentleman in his seat, which I regret; lor I am 
unwilling to speak of a gentleman in his absence, 
and I have a few words to say of that gentleman's 
discourtesy. I mean what I say. The gentleman 
from Massachusetts was discussing the qualifica- 
tions of the several candidates fin- the Presidency, 
and I rose and asked him, in a gentlemanly man- 
ner, and as politely as I knew how, what course 
he should pursue in relation to the gentlemen nom- 
inated as candidates.' The gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts, instead of answering the question, quoted 
some statement respecting General Cass's recep- 
tion at Cleveland, Ohio, which reported that gen- 
tleman as saying that the noise was so great he 
could not answer questions propounded in relation 
to great principles. Now, that was no answer to 
tlie question which I put to the gentleman from 
Massachusetts. It was not pertinent to the ques- 
tion asked. And, still further, I deny in loto that 
General Cass ever used such language. I have 
heard gentlemen read that statement, and glory 
over it; and I have told them it was false. 1 am 
satisfied no such words had been used, and I now 
say it is false. There were neither the questions 
propounded nor the answers given by General 
Cass, as that statement pretended. General Cass 
had no need to answer those questions, nor any 
others. He has been a Democrat from his boy- 
hood, and he had followed the Democratic track, 
notwithstanding he was charged with having been 
a Federalist. If he were a Federalist, certain I 
am that he would receive more favor from some 
gentlemen than he was now likely to receive. The 
slander, however, was perfectly harmless; it was 
not even worthy of an answer. 

But the Democratic nominees for the Presi- 
dency and Vice Presidency need no eulogy from 
me. Their history is written in the hearts of their 
c<iuntrymcn. It is before the nation, and before 
the world. Let the carping revilers of these two 
old veteran volunteers go on in their bitter cru- 
sade. Other men, in other times, have felt their 
malignity. Let them take a journey to Ohio and 
to the West, and every day's sojourn among the 



honest, incorruptible Bovff • lnn«1 will 

tell them of thiir folly. Our .IM 
our fathers and iiioihtm — the li 

that wilderm-KM region during tilt '..:..: li; „... 

all know full well how to apprecuUfl Uio valu« of 
such men. 

They rested secure in their humid*! log rn' -^ 
when a Cass and llcTi.eh, who never fnlten- i 
the face of danger, were their cW-fendcrB. T 
looked on their innocent, unoirending ciiddi :), 
their little, dependent houtiehold around ih' ., 
and saw them safe from the fall of the uprni • I 
tomahawk when ihc Nword of nuch pnlriola v » 
rioting in the blood of their invndrra. 

Many of these patriot fatherji have lived to f 
a new generation rioe up around them. Th • 
then sleeping in the cradle are, on thu day, at < 
head of the political rnnksof (hat bloomingcount • 
Voters now, they are ready to nttcHt their £rr - 
tude to tluise who stood by them when not able > 
protect themselves. 

Mr. S. now desired to ask gentlemen opjwf 
where they stood.' He had in hiit jio-scM.iioi. - 
number of extracts from Whig papeni, writi''. 
before the nomination of General Taylor, a 
some written since, which he should pui>lish, ' 
show the harmony, and concert, and unanimity 
opinion existing amongst them. They had abr 
doncd every principle in the selection of iheir ca-' 
didate for the Presidency. Notwithstanding lh< i 
outcry against slavery and slave in8titulion.t, th' •. 
had selected as their candidate the greatest sla^ 
holder in the Union. How would they reconcile 
this inconsistency.' The constituents of some of 
them did not attempt to reconcile it, for they were 
out against the nomination. They were showing 
that the epithets of " dough-faces" and "dough- 
heads" could not be applied to them. They were 
consistent with themselves, and therefore of them 
he had nothing to say. But he begged to call the 
attention of gentlemen here to some extracts which 
he had collected; and the first was from the New 
Bedford Mercury, of January 2(j, lf*A>*, a leading 
Whi? journal of Massachusetts. The editor haa 
no mincing of the matter, but comes directly and 
promptly to the point. Here is his language: 

" It must be wi-ll kiinwn to all tho«f irpnllenif n, that (Jen. 
Tnyldr lia." not a ^lln(low of a claiiii upim the Win* p«ny ; 
llial he prdfeyneH to be iKnoruiit of the prent |Ki|iU<.-nl mif*- 
lioiK whit h for ye.ir- have aKilntid Uii.s iintion. an J Hint if 
he i.« .1 Whia at all, \if Wliiirery i-; of n iiio-l iluliiou- char- 
arter. We linxe had eiioiich "f qrnui U'liit", ami w ■• iiifi- 
niti'ly prefer nn nvowfd l^ocofoco of Hie bluest Ofdvr lo a 
iiieri'ly iioiiijiial \Vlii|{." 

Following up this pronunciamrnlo, the same ed- 
itor " hits him again," in this manner, under date 
of March 25: 

" TiiK PiiKsinKSrv. — The rtren(tt)i of (Jenrnt Tivl'rlir^ 
ill the Locofueii >eeliii(is of ihe I'limn. Not •■ 
\Vhi2 !*lali-, except Marylniid. adviirnte<i hi' • 
the VVIiiir jeelioiiB of •'"ini' invelerate l.i-icofoi 
ait Virginia niid IViiii'<)lvniiiii. lilt fur Henry (°l.i> . \'> 
excrpted .Maryland, hiu we are inclined to beliec* " >■ 

ttfojiU of .Maryl.iiid greatly prefer lliiir) rt.v t' '• 
Taylor. We are aware thai the polil. 
land aie for Taylor. The iivo JoImiiwh 
are fuinoiM Tayloriled; and we do n"i 
.Malion and oilier men of iioiein Ilic 2:<UiI>-, let -u. ::} W l.ig-, 
will exert lliiiiicelveg for Taylor. 

" W. have private advire.s wiiirh Indicate that PaMIKL 
WrndTKH i^ not In I'avor ofUie iiiiliUiry eandklnte.'' 

Will not this account for Mr. Web.sier'ii very 
sudden illness at Baltimore, a few.evet'"'-': ■: <r^^ 
where he had been invited to make a 
speech.' So sudden an attack — an alti I 

him ahead to Boston with locomotive sptcd — must 
have sprung from a similar disca.^c to that now 
raging so awfully in northern Ohio anri - ■ •' -r 
parts. But a^aiii to the .Wrrriirw. 1 y 

IS literally stull'ed full of political raloiiu : ^ 



""I • n, nov is the time to stop tlic war, or never. We yet 
HiiVL'r to witliliulil a|>[)rupriaiioiis," 
. lie (Viileiice pniducvd in tlii^ isiso clearly proves that 
I resident ot" the I'liited States uiinece.-^arily and un- 
iiitioiially begun tliis war; that he was the invader 
;i.'i f-sor. CDiiscqneiitly, he ouylit not only to pay our 
>cs oi tlio war, hut that ot' Mexico also. At any rale, 
■; jny verdict.'' 

' .>ie we have the precious avowals. Here is 
'i.' i-'eileral policy foreshadowed. Once let tliem 
'.' j'liph, and we will be called upon to pay back 
;. 7. le.Kico the expenses incurred in this war. 
r le next peculiarly-marked specimen of Whig 
:y and principle, 1 take from the speech of the 
h ^'"jrable Caleb B. Smith, a distinguished Whig 
Jlc; resentative from the State of intliana. He thus 
til.'uJes to the war, to its causes, and to what is to 
fjllow. Let it speak for itself: 

'■ if the Administration sliall succeed at the next election, 
^'liiih God lorliid, the mask will be thrown off, and tlieii we 
111' be told, that we cannot get along without all Mexico; 
•.;ie'. we shall be told, that the American people have decided 
1.1 ;;'.vor of annexation, and that annexation must be con- 
s. I.;. mated. 

'• -r^ir, (said Mr. Smith,) I believe there can be no easier task 

'■. for this Administration to bring tlic present war to a 

;. I lieliove that peace, an honorable Tieacc, may be 

. .le in thirty days : a peace just to Mexico, and honorable 

1 ijrselves: a peace in which we have an opportunity of 

.■ -ving our justice and magnanimity, as we have already 

-:.jvn our heroic courage and skill in war. And what is 

;ssary to ctlVct this desirable obji^ct.' Let the President 

lint suiuvble commissioners — not one of the clerks of a 

■' :irtment, but men of char.ieter and high standing, men 

r- , 'wn to the country, and whose character will be a guar- 

' • ic of fair and upright intentions on the part of those 

• iding ilsem. Let these gentlemen repair to Mexico, and 
' . .'e let them propose terms of pe'ace, just and equitable to 

11 parties; let them relinqnisli their wild schemes of con- 
st and annexation, and otter terms just and fair ; and, my 
.> i/rd for it, Mexico will accede to the otTer. If ills territory 
I! K we want, it can be obtained in this way, and withuut 
I'l. lonor. But, for myself, I do not want or wish for a foot 
'>' iier soil ; and I detest and denounce all prosecution of a 
•:'r for plunder. 

• Mr. Sawyer here interposed, and (Mr. Smitu yielding 

: floor for a moment) inquired, what were the terms he 

ught we ought to oiler.'' 

■'Mr. Smith, resuming, said that if he were in a position 

. : ich required him todetine the terms of a treaty, he might 

liaps tell the gentleman what those terms were ; as it w:is, 

slioulcl be glad to see the Administration deiine them. 

'. Iiy did they not.' Why did they not propose some terms 

I which a judgment could be made up .'' Why conceal the 

■iect they sought under the cabalistic phrase of 'security 

the future ." So far, however, as his own opinion went, 

• . S. would have no hesitation in saying what these terms 
gilt to be. lie had already staled them. In the tirst place, 

utterly repudiated all idea of demanding indemnity for 
. ■; expenses of the war. We have no riyht, said he, to 
ikc any such demand. I told my own constituents on the 
imp. that, for my own part, I would as soon think oftaking^ 
mrsa on the highway as extorting from Mexico the e.x- 
nscs of this war. The House have decided that the war 
unconstitutional, and that it was begun by the President, 
lelieve it: it is the truth. We have no right to ask to be 
imbursed for the cost of this war. I dotost and despise this 

higgling with Alexieo for the cost of the powder burnt in 

■ .King !icr forts and cities from her." 

Here we have a fair sainple of Federal opposi- 

on to the war and to the Administration: it is the 

mtiment of that party. Ills here distinctly and 

' iTiphatirally avowed, and we behold it here put 

forth with a boldness and independence that leaves 

io room for doubt or cavil — " Jill idea of dcmand- 

\g indciiinily for the expenses of tlic loar" is promptly 

■ repudiatkd." Robbing on the highway would 'be 

referred to making such a demand of " poor, 

■crsecuted Mexico !" Yes, the cause of the enemy 

■i here f )und in able and worthy ha'iids. Let every 

Vceman of this continent read and |ionder well this 

..tartling declaration: " We have no rig'ht to be 

RElMBL'RSED FOR THE COST OF THIS WAR 1" "Peo- 
ple of the Union, (cry out these Federal patriots,) 
give bark your ill-gotten gains! Y^u plundered 
It froiv. fcclilc and innocent hands ! Surrender up 
(sny they) all that you have thus wrongfully ac- 
quired ! Hosv down to Mexico, and ask her for- 



giveness! You invaded her soil — butchered her 
people — laid waste her territory ! Pay back tho 
tribute you so arbitrarily exacted; withdraw from 
her cities; acknowledge your wrongs; repent of 
your sins, and seek to be forgiven of your God 
and country!" This is the shoul. of patriotic Whig- 
ery throughout the land. Their country always 
wrong — the enemy ever in the right. 

Let us give a plain illustration of this business. 
For a moment let us imagine — what I trust in God 
can never in this country happen — that General 
Taylor is elected Presidentof these United States. 
The Hon. Caleb B. Smith may then come in as 
Secretary of State, and my friend and colleague, 
Mr. FrsHER, may be sent as minister to Mexico. 
Negotiations are opened for a settlement of the 
expenses of the Mexican war. Mexico puts forth 
her claims for full indemnity, in defending her 
altars and her firesides from a ruthless invader, 
quoting from Mr. Clay's Lexington speech, and 
from that of Mr. Corwin, made in the American 
Senate, to sustain the justice and equity of the 
claim. She alleges the war to have bccH " an ag- 
gressive one" on o-tr part, our cl ject being solely 
to rob her, and to steal her land; and, alongside 
of Mr. Clay's and Mr. Corwin's speeches, those 
of the new Secretary and minister are publicly 
read, to prove how very just and proper an i/e»i of 
some $80,000,000 or $100,000,000 will be to be thus 
" REIMBURSED." Mcxico Will then urge upon tlie 
new minister and Secretary that we " commenced" 
the war in direct violation of our Constitution ; 
that we invaded an unoffending people ; that we 
pursued them, and fought and conquered them in 
open violation of all the great principles regulalinc' 
the intercourse of nations; and, to cap the climax, 
the Journals of the American Congress are then 
brought forward to prove that every Whig vote 
was given in favor of Mexico ! 

Yes, $100,000,000 may then be demanded, and 
$100,000,000 refunded ! If these Whig speakers, 
and voters, and praters, and grumblers, have been 
honest in tlieir professions, honest in their denun- 
ciations, honest in their benevolent and sympa- 
thetic devotion to Mexican interests, they will, 
they must vote to pay back, under a Taylor admin- 
istration. Well can I imagine, sir, the eagerness, 
the enthusiastic welcome with which such a " re- 
imbursement" will be met in the treaty-ratifying 
branch of the American Congress. There Mexico 
will find her old advocates and friends. There 
will stand Air. Corwin, of tlie great West, ready 
to repeat his own enthusiastic harangue, that had 
he been a Mexican, he loould have icelccmed Ilia 
.Americans with bloody hands and hosjiitablc graves. 
There will stand the great and peerless Webster, 
the " second Daniel come to judgment," willing, 
rather, perhaps, to see the walls of the Capitol but' 
tered down, than to surrender up his opinion of 
the injustice of the war. 

But reverse the picture, and how stands the 
question.'' In whom can the American people 
most safely put their trust in times like these r 
Where the men, where the statesmen, the jiatriots, 
the soldiers, who will now most boldly stand up to 
the cause of their country, and best protect and 
defend it from all danger and peril. The democ- 
ra<;y of the nation have selected the men — Cass 
fflid Butler; if elected, they will carry out Ameri- 
can doctrines, and see justice done to our country. 
Wehavc" tii(/c)uni?i/"in ourown hands. Insolence 
has been chastised, American rights have been vin- 
dicated, American valor has been tested, and a war 
of justice, which soughtonly the redress of injuries, 
long and patiently endured, has been brought to an 
honorable, a peaceful, and a happy termination. 










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